Parents of ’summer babies’ will be able to delay when kids start Reception

PARENTS of children born in the summer will be able to delay when their children start reception class, the Schools Minister said yesterday.

It came as research revealed youngsters born in September score higher marks in tests than those who arrive in August.

Leading academic Dr Joshua McGrane, of Oxford University, said England had a “unique” result when it came to how age affects performance with older children outperforming younger ones.

Yesterday Nick Gibb pledged to change the admissions system so parents could start their children a year later.

He said: “The issue of summer born children is something that we are concerned about.

“I do accept there is a link between the month that your child is born and academic results, particularly in the early years of primary school and that’s why we want to give parents that option.

“We are looking now at the impact of changing the admissions code will have on the system as a whole and when the opportunity arises we will seek to change the admissions code to give parents more discretion over when their child will start school.”

Children typically start school in the September after they turn four.

Parents of children born between April and August can ask to delay entry to reception for a year.

But many schools and councils, in charge of admissions, often insist summer-born pupils must go straight into year one and miss out on the reception year altogether.